It rained. . It was cold. I was in a tent. My camera let me down. Seems like not much to cheer about, doesn’t it?  It was a grand vacation.

😐  A gentle rain that soothe me to sleep.   I love to hear on a tent….at night.  I had a poncho for venturing out. Right at 2AM the rain stopped and my bladder woke me. What a stroke of luck.  By 2:30, the rain soothed me back to sleep. We stayed dry. No leaks until the tent’s rain-flap reached the point of saturation. Two drops. That’s all.  Gratitude. :-O

😐  Simple pleasures. We ventured up to a tunnel through the dunes, a playground, and high waves on Lake Michigan. Miss K, The two Mr. Rs, Mr. C, and Mr. B had a blast chasing waves and throwing rocks.  They were soaked.  Sixty degree air, and water that felt like an ice pack dried in the warmed sand of the playground.  Mr. R:  “This is the best vacation ever.”  Gratitude. 🙂

😐 Huddling around campfires. Telling stories while burning pretend houses made of cardboard is a family legacy.  I know it sounds macabre. My grandfather, the fire chief started the storytelling.  All stories end with everyone escaping in the nick of time: kids, parents, pets, sometimes, princesses tiaras. Lessons spoken about fire safety.  This year we toasted marshmallows and added some colorful powder.  Gratitude. 🙂

🙁 Bifocals.  My optometrist said I’d like them.  I resisted.  Finally, I got them with my health savings plan.  Wow! I can read without digging for reading glasses.  Gratitude. 🙂

🙂  Long bicycle rides and wildlife.  No, wait, those are chickens and rooster.  Who can make their sound?  Gratitude. :-O

😐 A vacation without Loved-One.  Boo. He stayed home to work.  After begging him to go with me to Disney World in June, I decided to lay of the pressure this time.  He showed up the evening of the fourth day.  Just in time for ice cream, a campfire, a sunset, and an early morning camp-breaking exercise.  Gratitude. 🙂

:-) Scheduled posts and MidLife Bloggers on Facebook.  I got all my posts done ahead of time.  Vacation means unplugging (for the most part.) I missed my sister bloggers. Gratitude. 😉

🙂 Sherman’s ice cream and “Little Nemo’s” waffle cones.  Need I say more than Gratitude?  Enough walking to burn all the calories before I got home. 

🙂  Mom’s open door policy and dancing a wedding.  Nine people, two showers, and a ton of sand got washed off at Mom’s just in time to make it to a beautiful wedding.  I heard we have a reputation to uphold. We can be so silly, you might think we’re under the influence of something. We’re just high on life. “We are Fam-i-ly.” Gratitude 🙂

🙂 L-O-V-E spelled out by children against the sunset. Gratitude.

[tweetthis]What’s on your gratitude list? [/tweetthis]

Please share.  You can pop over to Alphabet Salad and join the brigade of thankful people. Just click the little frog below: